Sisi: Any bet that Egypt might compromise on its water security is a losing bet.

On Sunday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi affirmed that achieving cooperation in the Eastern Nile Basin requires political will and a commitment to realizing the shared interests of Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia. This must be balanced with ensuring each nation’s right to development, without causing harm to other states or threatening their water security.

According to a statement from the Egyptian Presidency, el-Sisi emphasized that the presence of the Nile’s headwaters within a country’s territory does not grant it the right to exercise unilateral control over the river or its waters. He stressed that development efforts must account for the rights of other nations and the interests of the region’s peoples.

The Egyptian President stated that any expectation that Egypt would accept a *fait accompli* or compromise its water security is a "losing bet." He noted that Cairo has consciously chosen the path of dialogue and cooperation, grounded in its confidence in the justice of its cause and the legal validity of its position.

He added that safeguarding the interests of the Egyptian people is a responsibility the state is committed to upholding, while remaining steadfast in its preference for solutions based on consultation, coordination, respect for international law, good neighborliness, and the principle of causing no harm to others.

El-Sisi reaffirmed that Egypt will continue to extend a hand of cooperation to the Nile Basin countries, asserting that the bonds uniting the region’s peoples—and their shared interests—transcend existing disputes, and that the waters of the Nile should serve as a foundation for cooperation among the nations that share it.

These remarks come amid an ongoing dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which Addis Ababa has constructed on the Blue Nile to support its development goals and generate electricity. Egypt maintains its concerns regarding the dam’s impact on its water security and advocates for safeguarding the rights of the downstream nations, Egypt and Sudan; meanwhile, Ethiopia asserts that the project is a cornerstone of its development plans and its efforts to expand electricity generation.